Rita Ann Schell

Rita Ann Schell, 84, of Winona, formerly of Oak Ridge, died Thursday, December 30 with her family by her side at St. Anne Extended Healthcare of Winona.Rita was born May 30, 1926 on the family farm in Oak Ridge to John and Rose (Kronebusch) Guenther. She graduated from Holy Trinity Catholic School and worked for many years at the Mayo Clinic. On May 24, 1952 she married Charles Schell at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Rollingstone. They lived on the farm in Oak Ridge until she moved to Winona in 2008. She was a life long member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and also a member of Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona. She belonged to both the St. Nicholas and St. Theresa's Society and also volunteered with the Elder Network. Rita enjoyed shopping, entertaining, crafting, music, plays and most importantly, time with her family.She is survived by seven children, Ann Marie (David) Dose of Lake City; Steve (Jodi) Schell of Oak Ridge; Cathy (Paul) Nierode of Oregon, WI; Linda (Gary) Kieffer of Utica; Robert (Shelly) Schell of Altura; Jane (Lyle) Bonow of Lewiston; Sara Schell of Winona; 18 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; 6 step grandchildren; 8 step great-grandchildren; 4 sisters, Rosemary Wiley of CA; Dorothy Kuhlman of Mobile, AL; Joan Williams of Rochester; Carol Mullen of Winona; 2 brothers, Bernard Guenther of Rollingstone and David Guenther of St. Charles and special family friends, Jason and Jill Kohner and family.Rita is preceded in death by her husband, Charles in 1998; parents; brother Chuck Guenther and a granddaughter Bridget Kieffer.A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, January 3, 2011 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona with Monsignor Roy Literski and Father Richard Colletti concelebrating. Burial will follow at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery at Oak Ridge at 2 p.m. Visitation will be 2-6 p.m., Sunday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Rollingstone and one hour prior to the service on Monday. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred.Please share a memory of Rita in her online guestbook and view her video tribute when it becomes available.
Tribute video can be found at: videos.lifetributes.com/186373